The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB) will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I with an exhibit of American recruitment posters from the Great War titled “America Mobilizes for War.” The exhibit will run Monday, July 28, through Friday, August 29, 2014 in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. CSRAB— in coordination with the “The United States World War One Centennial Commission” and the commission’s Ohio working group—developed the exhibit to highlight the United States’ involvement in the Great War and to commemorate the war that changed the trajectory of the 20th century and ultimately led to further global conflict 21 years later.

“The Ohio Statehouse is committed to the goal of the commission to educate citizens on the causes and outcomes of World War I. I must say, the current confrontations in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have roots in the First World War; today’s world was forged by the hammer of the Great War,” said William Carleton, CSRAB executive director.

World War I started when Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia July 28, 1914, setting in motion a series of events that would ultimately engulf the world in war.

The Central Powers consisted of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the beginning of the war. The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers later in 1914. In 1915, the Kingdom of Bulgaria joined the alliance.

The Entente or Allied Powers were comprised of the French Republic, the British Empire and the Russian Empire prior to 1917. In 1917 the Allied Powers expanded to include the Unites States of America, Italy and Japan. More information on the centennial celebration and “The United States World War One Centennial Commission” can be found at http://worldwar-1centennial.org/.

Visit the Ohio Statehouse to commemorate the start of the World War I centennial and explore the posters that helped mobilize the United States for war in April of 1917. For more information about the Ohio Statehouse, please, visit www.ohiostatehouse.org.